


more than making do

by helsinkibaby



Category: Battlestar Galactica (1978)
Genre: Community: 1-million-words, F/M, Het, Romance, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 16:05:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15513462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: Athena and Boomer talk about Celestial Chambers and other things...





	more than making do

**Author's Note:**

> Post ep/Missing scene to “The Hand of God”

"Nice to see you've remembered your clothes this time." 

Even though Boomer knows that they are alone - Athena would never have spoken to him like that if she thought that someone was around to overhear them - he still finds himself looking around to check. After all, when conducting a clandestine relationship, it pays to be overly cautious. Once assured that they are indeed alone, he turns to Athena, crosses his arms over his chest and gives her his best unimpressed expression. It makes her lips twitch and her eyes dance, very much not the desired effect. 

"You heard about that?" It's a weak parry, because of course she had. Two of his best friends - one of them Athena's brother - and their girlfriends had interrupted his slumber, spinning some story about transmissions on long forgotten Gamma frequencies, a possibility that they were not as alone in the universe as they'd previously thought, seeking his communications expertise to track the signal, strengthen it. He'd realised the possibilities straight away, had leaped out of his bunk, all ready to investigate - the fact that he'd been asleep and was clad only in his underwear hadn't registered until his four awakeners, and everyone else in the dorm, had started laughing. 

Frack, he can't even blame them. If it had happened to anyone else, he'd be spreading it far and wide too. 

She actually laughs as she takes a step towards him. "Oh, I think the entire Battlestar has heard about that," she tells him, face alight with teasing. "Although from what I hear, it wouldn't be the first time someone's ended up in the Celestial Chamber in a state of undress." 

"Oh?" He tilts his head, spies his opportunity. He's not entirely unconvinced that she's not laying a trap for him, but he'll walk into it gladly to change the topic and shine a light on her. "And what do you know about the Celestial Chamber?" 

Athena doesn't miss a beat. "Only what I overhear," she tells him. He grins as he closes the distance between them, slips his arms around her waist and laces his fingers together at the small of her back. "I take it you've been there a time or two?" 

"Not recently." He's honest with her; he always is. The world as they knew it has literally been turned to ashes, their home now an ancient Battlestar, barely fit for purpose as they traverse the galaxy searching for a new home. Truth is one of the few things they have left and he won't abandon it easily, even if the truth might not be what she wants to hear. Still, when he follows it up with, "And you know I was nowhere near there earlier." 

Athena does smile at that. It's more of a smirk though as she winds her arms around his neck. "You mean Apollo and Starbuck didn't try to set you up with someone so you could all triple date?" 

"They tried." Again, the truth. "I told them I wasn't interested." She lifts one eyebrow and he reads the question before she can speak the words aloud. "I'm not so sure they believed me." 

Pressing her lips together, Athena lets out a small sigh. "It's getting harder to hide it, isn't it?" 

Boomer can't disagree with her, even if he knows that they're heading into distinctly dangerous territory. Theirs is not a relationship he ever envisioned, for a whole host of reasons. Older than she is, he's literally known her for years; she's the sister of one of his best friends, the ex-lover of another. And even if she weren't all of those things, she would still be the Admiral's daughter and he would still be a Viper Pilot, under her father's direct command, with all the politics that that relationship entails. 

He knew all that. 

And yet, stuck in the Rejuvenation Centre with a host of children, fire raging all around them, trapping them, he'd found her to be brave, resourceful, confident. Apollo's little sister, he realised, was all grown up, had grown into the kind of woman that any man would be proud to have on his arm. 

He'd dismissed those thoughts, blamed them on the smoke, on the lack of oxygen. 

It had been nothing compared to the lack of oxygen when she found him later on that evening, pressed her body against his and kissed him until his lungs burned for air. 

An abandoned Viper bay wouldn't have been his choice for their first time, but they made do. 

Just like they'd been making do for sectons now, and he has to admit, he's getting tired of it. 

"Yes." He answers her question with no discernible pause and she catches her bottom lip with her teeth, looks down. Not so quickly that he doesn't see the look in her eyes and he knows what she's thinking, knows she's wrong. Cupping her cheek in his hand, his thumb sweeps a path up and down as he tilts her head back so that he can see her face. "I think we should tell them." 

The delight in her eyes can't be hidden but it can be stifled quickly. "Are you sure?" she asks. "There's going to be talk..."

"There's always talk." Another truth and they both know it. He's genuinely surprised that someone hasn't figured them out yet; then again, he has seen Colonel Tigh eyeing them a little more than usual over the last few cycles. And generally, if Tigh has noticed something, Adama won't be far behind. Career or no career, Boomer has more respect for the Old Man than to let him hear about this from someone else. "I don't care about that. I care about you. Us." He slides his hands up her back to her shoulders, squeezes gently. "Is this what you want?"

"Yes." She answers so quickly that it can't possibly be a lie. In fact, it sounds like she's been thinking about it for quite some time. "Yes." 

Boomer fights a smile. "Then let's do it." 

Athena blinks. "Now?"

He considers it. Then he looks around them at the empty Viper bay, considers that once they tell Adama and Apollo and Starbuck, once word gets out, people will be looking at them every second and sneaking off will be even more difficult than it is now. Until the novelty wears off, this could be one of the last chances they'll have to be alone together - no point wasting it. 

He's fairly sure she's already come to that conclusion if the smirk on her face is anything to go by. 

"Let's not be hasty," he murmurs and she grins as she looks around her pointedly. 

"It's hardly a Celestial Chamber," she says, mirth in every syllable. "But I suppose we can make do." 

Boomer's learned over the last few sectons to never argue with Athena when she's right. 

So he pulls her close and kisses her instead.

It's a much better idea.


End file.
